Rating: 
Summary: Good First Try
Review: All over the Internet long-time fantasy readers complain about novels that are cookie-cutter product, each the same as the last, with the same elements, told in the same bland style.Well, here at last in a new writer who is experimenting with a different style, and with different material. Nazarian describes DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE as a collage novel; what it really is is a series of short stories, with some of the same characters wandering through. Her style sometimes falters, as if reaching for an effect her skills haven't quite defined, but that's a minor flaw when you compare it to the rich vivid detail of her imagery, the humor, the pathos, the faint trace-elements from mythologies outside the same old Western venue. There is strong potential here; the sequence from the storyteller's point of view shows evidence of brilliance. Readers who like something strange and new should take a risk on this book, and support an emerging writer who is trying to break the mold. Go on, take a chance, I dare you to foretell just where this tale is going. If you shrug and pass, you cannot blame publishers for squashing new voices and putting out yet more bland by-the-numbers product: vote with your wallet.
Rating:
Summary: Good First Try
Review: I found Vera Nazarian's book to be a wonderful journey into foreign lands. It reinvents the old-time fantasy reminisent of a time before Tolkien and Tolkien wannabees. She creates a world rich in myth and culture. The places of the Compass Rose are places I wish to visit again and again. Her stories and characters take the reader by surprise. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic Fantasy
Review: I found Vera Nazarian's book to be a wonderful journey into foreign lands. It reinvents the old-time fantasy reminisent of a time before Tolkien and Tolkien wannabees. She creates a world rich in myth and culture. The places of the Compass Rose are places I wish to visit again and again. Her stories and characters take the reader by surprise. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Reading Experience
Review: I have to say up front that I do not read much fantasy of the classical or "high" sort; and so I wasn't sure I'd like this book. I'm still a little surprised that I liked it as much as I did; it's not the kind of thing I would usually go for. Perhaps that is the mark of a really good writer, that she can make you enjoy something you usually wouldn't read. Vera Nazarian certainly made it work for me. This is not exactly a novel, and not exactly a collection; I'm not quite sure what you'd call it - basically a group of stories set in the same fantastic world, and linked together by various associations. Some of the characters appear in more than one story, but the individual stories could stand alone I suppose - but the cumulative effect is very powerful and evocative; the whole definitely is greater than the sum of its parts. This book can be read as simple fantasy entertainment, and no doubt would be very enjoyable as such; but on a deeper level Vera Nazarian isn't just telling strange and exotic tales; she's saying some things about the human condition, and they are things worth saying. The writing itself is excellent. That sort of high formal voice is very difficult to bring off - it may be the most demanding of narrative styles - but Vera Nazarian succeeds where more experienced writers have crashed and burned. It's hard to come up with comparisons. Lord Dunsany comes to mind as perhaps the closest in style, but DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE has flashes of mordant humor that you'd never find in Dunsany. I was also reminded of some of the early work of Vonda MacIntyre, and now and then a line or a scene would make me think of Roger Zelazny. I knew Roger personally, and I feel certain he would have liked this book. I certainly did.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Reading Experience
Review: I have to say up front that I do not read much fantasy of the classical or "high" sort; and so I wasn't sure I'd like this book. I'm still a little surprised that I liked it as much as I did; it's not the kind of thing I would usually go for. Perhaps that is the mark of a really good writer, that she can make you enjoy something you usually wouldn't read. Vera Nazarian certainly made it work for me. This is not exactly a novel, and not exactly a collection; I'm not quite sure what you'd call it - basically a group of stories set in the same fantastic world, and linked together by various associations. Some of the characters appear in more than one story, but the individual stories could stand alone I suppose - but the cumulative effect is very powerful and evocative; the whole definitely is greater than the sum of its parts. This book can be read as simple fantasy entertainment, and no doubt would be very enjoyable as such; but on a deeper level Vera Nazarian isn't just telling strange and exotic tales; she's saying some things about the human condition, and they are things worth saying. The writing itself is excellent. That sort of high formal voice is very difficult to bring off - it may be the most demanding of narrative styles - but Vera Nazarian succeeds where more experienced writers have crashed and burned. It's hard to come up with comparisons. Lord Dunsany comes to mind as perhaps the closest in style, but DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE has flashes of mordant humor that you'd never find in Dunsany. I was also reminded of some of the early work of Vonda MacIntyre, and now and then a line or a scene would make me think of Roger Zelazny. I knew Roger personally, and I feel certain he would have liked this book. I certainly did.
Rating: 
Summary: 0 for 3
Review: I've had a terrible run of luck picking books. Vera Nazarian's confused opus is only one in a long string of bad books that I've had the misfortune of purchasing. I fell prey to the author's "Help Us Struggling Writers" speel and felt a bit of pity due to the dozens and dozens of lists the author wrote linking her book to every known book and writer under the sun. But in the end the poorly written prose and bad structure won over and my pity went away. The book is hugely overpriced and so overwritten that I found nothing to like. Vera tries so hard at every page that you can't get away from the author's meddling hands and enjoy anything. I don't recommend this to anyone. Even the most diehard fans of fantasy will find little if anything to like.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy From the Heart of the East
Review: It is true what Will Sanders says, that _Compass Rose_ is somewhere between a short story collection and a novel. Vera was calling it a "collage novel." I think, and many do not know this about me, that since I have Russian blood, there is something to be said about a different worldview. Russia is a place where East and West meet. A deeply spiritual, deeply emotional country; it is a crossroads and an ancient land of magic and also pain. And everything I most love about Russia is reflected in my friend's beautiful writing. The title reflects perfectly what lies within this book, a flower, lovely and delicate, but also precise and organized -- to the points of the compass. No one writes like a Russian. No one feels passion like a Russian. There is heartache here, and also great joy. If you love fantasy, if you wish to be transported to a world of magic and dreams, then read Vera Nazarian. This is only the first of many marvelous works to come. Like vodka, it is a strong and pure product, and it will not disappoint. Like Aloshya Karamazov, and Pierre Bolkonsky, it is the Russian heart, and its soul and spirit soar.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy From the Heart of the East
Review: It is true what Will Sanders says, that _Compass Rose_ is somewhere between a short story collection and a novel. Vera was calling it a "collage novel." I think, and many do not know this about me, that since I have Russian blood, there is something to be said about a different worldview. Russia is a place where East and West meet. A deeply spiritual, deeply emotional country; it is a crossroads and an ancient land of magic and also pain. And everything I most love about Russia is reflected in my friend's beautiful writing. The title reflects perfectly what lies within this book, a flower, lovely and delicate, but also precise and organized -- to the points of the compass. No one writes like a Russian. No one feels passion like a Russian. There is heartache here, and also great joy. If you love fantasy, if you wish to be transported to a world of magic and dreams, then read Vera Nazarian. This is only the first of many marvelous works to come. Like vodka, it is a strong and pure product, and it will not disappoint. Like Aloshya Karamazov, and Pierre Bolkonsky, it is the Russian heart, and its soul and spirit soar.
Rating:
Summary: A painting of words
Review: The author paints a compelling picture with words. Unfortunately, it's a picture of excess and pretension. There's very little actual story here. Rather, there are layers upon layers of words, thick as an over-painted canvas, dressed up as storytelling. We're never given a reason to care about any of these characters, except that the author seems to be trying to command us to do so through the sheer force of her will. There are long, long passages of beautiful description piled on so thickly that the reader begins to feel claustrophobic under the weight of them. The characters trudge through deserts and palaces saying pretty things and speaking in elaborate if awkward dialogue that means nothing. One gets the feeling that they are mouthpieces for the author, but the author has nothing to say other than "Please buy my book." ...
Rating:
Summary: Unusual and Engaging Fantasy
Review: This book is different than a lot of fantasy I've read. Some of the stories read like folk tales with the author's grand, old world style. I loved the imagery and vastness of the world of the Compass Rose. I was a little overwhelmed at times, but the author's choice to tell the story through separate yet intertwined tales made the book very accessible for me. Like buying a very rich, giant-size chocolate bar and being able to breaking off tiny scored bites or a huge section. Very enjoyable book! I'm glad I bought it.
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